Manufacture of heels



Sept. 27 1927. 1,643,387

T. LUND AMANUFACTUBE OF-HEELS Filed Oct. 19, 191 4 sheets-sheet 1 v llwl2 A g ,50" kolq i N bo 'F4 4 m w N Si N T :In C

W I* l o l w o@ o W w O is A WVM/rmi is 0j y Q QW u YN N mw w @Mmm Ml N1 Y 1,643 387 Sept. 27,1927. T'LUND MANUFACTURE 0F HEELs Sept. 27, 1927. T'LUND MANUFACTURE 0F HEELS Filed 001". 19, 1918 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 /A/ VfA/m/i ,Sgpt 27, 19u27- .,T LUND MANUFACTURE 0E HEELS Filed-Oct.- 19, 1918 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept, 27, 1927.

l.,tfl3,387

UNITED STATES-Parser orties.

THOMAS LUND, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSGNOR TO ''NTED MA- CHINERY CORPORATON, OF PATERSON, NEW" JERSEY, A COBEORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MANUFACTURE OF HEELS.

Application filed Octoberl 19, 1918. Serial No. 258,845).v l

This invention relates to the manufacture of heels for boots and shoes and comprises both a method of operation and an improved marhine for making heels.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved method and a novel machine, by the employment of which the largest possible production may be secured and maintained with a reduced number of operatives and with a minimum requirement for skill from such operatives.

In the commercial production of heels the lifts are assembled into piles and secured t-ogether to form heel blanks, which are afterward subjected to great pressure in a closed mold to solidify and shape the blanks. The molding, or compressing, operation is performed rapidly, while the assembling of the lifts, commonly called heel building, is a relatively slow operation. Several heel building operatives are, t-herefore, required to keep one compressor operative busy.

ln the accomplishment of the stated obedly, producinga continuous flo-W of compressed or molded heels.

ln order to carry out the method most effectively it is advantageous to use a system of heel making machinery in which lheel building machines, a .heel compressing` machine and automatic transferring mechanism are combined in one'organization.r A battery of heel building machines and an automatic heel compressing machine havingl a productive capacity asy great as that of all the heel building` machines are connected byv transferring mechanism having transferring -canacit i as Oreat asthat ofthe entire battery of heel building machines to provide for transferring all the heelsaway from the heel buildin@ machines as fast as the 1 are built and delivering them to the compressblanks from the builders and deliver them to the compressing machine.y 'lheytrans'fer-k ring mechanism may advantageously be driven by the automatic compressing machine, thus insuring its operation in proper time relation thereto.

In this connection, a further feature of lthe invention relates to improved means for driving the carrier from the vertically moving mold carrying cross head of the compressor, this being preferably effected by supporting one portion of the carrier upon stationary brackets upon the frame of the compressor t and transmitting movement from the moving cross head of the compressor to advance the carrier step by step.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent when reading the following'detailed description of one embodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings, invwhich:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation showing a hee-l compressor, a heel building machine and port-ions of the connecting heel guide and transferring carrier;

Fig. 2 is a view iii-continuation of Fig. 1, showing vthe remaining building machines in ktheir relation to the carrier;

' Fig. 3 is a perspective vieW of the mechanism. for driving the endless chain carrier from the crossheadvof the compressor; v

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of a lportion of the compressing machine illustrating the delivery thereto of a heel blank; and t y 5 is a perspective view of a detail of the adjusting mechanism for the heel guide. 10 indicates thel frame of an automatic heelk compressing machinewhich may, vfor example, be of the type shown; and described in Letters Patent No. 1,172,471,

.granted Feb. 22. 1916, upon the application f, of Thomas Lund.

A, B, Cy and D indicate four similar building machines which may-be of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent vNo. 1,056,720, granted Mar. 18, `1913, upon f the application yof Eliphalet A. Tripp.

Brackets 12 upon the frames of the heel building machines support an elongated guide 14 in which runs a heel transferring carrier consisting of parallel endless chains 16 connected at suitably spaced intervals by cross bars 18 between which heels may be placed on the guide 14. The series of heel building machines and the heel compressing machine are all in alinement in order that the carrier may move in a straight line to conduct heels from all the building machines and `deliver them to the compressor.

Beyond the first building machine, the carrier passes over an idle sprocket 20 which may be adjusted by means of a screw 22 to keep the chain taut. At the opposite end of its path the carrier passes over a driving sprocket 24`and an idle guide pulley 26, bot-h of which are mounted 'to rotate in a stationary bracket28 `bolted to the` frameof the `com ressor.

T e compressor has the usual vertically reciprocating cross head S() carrying the compressing mold 32 and provided with a forwardly projecting bracket 34 foi supporting and guiding the-feed slide 36 which re ciprocates forwardly and rearwardly to feed the Vheels to the compressing mold. `The driving' sprocket 24 is rotated step by step` to deposit one heel at a time upon the feed slide. To this end, a ratchet wheel 38 is secured to the shaft 40, upon which the driving sprocket is also secured. A rocker' arm l42 loosely Amounted upon the Vsaid shaft 40 `has pivoted to its outer end a spring actuated pawl 44 arranged to engage the teeth of the ratchet 38. Also pivotally connected to the end of the arm 42 is a link v46, the lower end of which is connected to the free end of a liever 48 having `its opposite end pvoted to the machine frame at 50. "A roll 52 is mounted inthe center portion ofV thelever 48 in the pathofa plunger 54rest-ing upon a substantial spring `56 contained in a cylinder 58 carried by a bracket 60 bolted to the y cross head '30.` Alight spring 62, connected at one end to the lever 48 and at the other i f end to a pin 64 in the. cylinder 58, `tends to draw the link 46 and the arm 42`downward but, when the cross head 30 rises` an adjustable plug 66 in the upper end of the plunger l engages the roll 52, rocking the arm 42 about "its axis and, through the pawl and ratchet, rotating the sprocket 24 sufficiently to ad- Vance the carrier chain one space. An adthe event of an obstruction retarding the movement of the carrier the spring 56 will yield'to lprevent- Vbreakage of any of enough and is normally held under sutlicient tension so that in the ordinary operation of `the machine it does Vnot yield. In `the downof the feed slide.

the mechanism. Y This spring. however, Vis `stiff` ward movement of the cross head the pawl is retracted bythe spring 62 unt-il an abutment 68 upon the lever 48 engages the side of the bracket 28, after which, the plug 66 leaves the roll 52 and the pawlarm remainss'tationary. 1

As will be more clearly'described` hereinafter, the blanks produced by the heel building machines are deposited upon the guide member 14 between the cross bars `18 of the transferring carrier. The step by step advance of the carrier causes the heels to be advanced tothe end of the guide adjacent to the compressor where a hinged portion 72 guides them to a point from which they drop upon a plate 74 supported by a bracket 76, bolted to the bracket 34. This posit-ion of the heel blank is shown at 7 8 inFig. 4.

The deposit of the blankV upon the plate `7 4 as a result of the movementof the carrier occurs at the end ofthe upward movement of the cross head 30, at which time the feed slide 36 is in its outermost position. A pusher 80, adjustably secured to the feed slide by aset screw 82, engages the blank upon the next inward movement of the feed slide (in the Vdownward movement of the cross head) pushingthe blank off the plate 74 and depositing it upon a plate ;84 which is secured to the feed slide and movestherewith,

blank, which then drops into the position indicated atA 86 between the clamping jaws 8S ment of the slide the jaws carry the blank finger 91 supportedjust' above the path of the blanks insures that they shall be kept under control as they are fed to the compressing machine. l

In the next inward movel In order to insure an accurate positioning of the blank as it leaves the guide 14, members`92, 94 are provided to guide it and prevent its mis-placement transversely. The

side guide 92 is stationary while the side guide 94-is supported loosely upon the member"14 and is engaged near either end by pins 96 mounted in disks 98 secured to short vertical shafts 1 00 having crank arms 102 secured to their lower ends. The outer ends of the two crank arms 102 are connected by a rod 104 which may be manually moved `lengthwise to turn thedisks 98 to effect adjustment of the space between the members `92, 94. It willbe observedthat the righthand end of the rod 104 and the adjusting member to which it is connected are located within easy reachof the operative of the last heel building machine D of the series. yAfter the desired adjustment is eected, the rod is secured against accidental movement by a set screw 106.

he h-eel compressing machine is vstarted by depressing the usual tread'le 108 against the tension of a spring 110. A locking latch 112 pivoted to the machine frame at 114 is under the influence of a spring 116 and is `provided With a shoulder 118 arranged to engage a portion 120 of the treadle and lock the latter in running position. A rod 122 connects the latch 112 with a pedal 124 located Within reach of the operative of the heel building machine D. Thus, when the machine is in operation, this operative is able, by depressing the pedal 124, to Withdraw the latch 112, permitting the tread'le 108 to rise and causing the heel compressing machine and heel transferring carrier to sto l rljhe operation is as follows: Assuming the compressing` machine and heel carrier to be running, heels are built in the heel building machines A, B, C, D and deposited in the carrier. The opei'atives of machines A, B and C need pay no special attention to the particular spaces of the carrier in which their heels are deposited, merely placing the heels as fast as they are produced in any accessible vacant space in the chain. rhe operative of machine D, Which is the last machine in the series and is next to the heel compressor, may act in a supervisory capacity, it being her duty to see that any spaces not filled by the previous machines of the series are supplied with heels. As Wil'l be apparent, she also, through pedal 124, has control of the compressing machine and, consequently, of the movement of the carrier, being able, in the eventl of any serious disarraiigenient or failure to keep the carrier supplied with heels, to stopvthe entire transferring and compressing system immediately. It is preferable that the best operative be placed at machine D since her requirements are subj-ect to variation, and closer attention is required upon her part than upon the part of the other operatives in the series. It has been found under actual commercial conditions, however, that by using the proper number of heel building machines vith relation to the style of heel being produced, the production of the unit may very readily be adjusted to the requirements of the compressor and that all the operatives may Work continuously, producing heels at a maxamum rate Without undue strain or tension. The services of the usual operative for feeding the heel compressing machine are dispensed with entirely, as is also the boy commonly employed forI gathering up the heels from 'the various builders and supplying them to the operative of the compressing' machine. It Willthus be apparent that I have effected an organization of machinery by the use of which the product of the labor of a given number of operatives is greatly increased, or conversely, a given quantity of work is produced with a sub-k stantially smaller number of workers. n

It should lbe understood that the descriptive 'terms automatic and non-automatic, used herein with relation to the coii'ipressing machine and the building machines denote respectively devices which are completely autoi'nai'ic in operation, not requiring the `services of an operative, and those which are not completely.automatic but do require the services of an operative. l

Having described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is z- 1. The method of manufacturing coinpressed or molded heels, Which consists in sin'iultaneously assembling heel lifts into piles to forni completed heel blanks at a plurality of assembling points, maintaining the heel lifts in assembled relation, continuously placing the completed blanks from the several asi'embling points in a single unbroken row, continuously conveying the said row toa single compressing station, continuously delivering the blanks one by one from the forward end of the row to a single compressing means and subjecting the successive blanks to compression uninterruptedly.

The method of manufacturing compressed oi molded heels Which consists in simultaneously assen'ibling heel lifts into piles at a plurality of assembling points at such rates of speed as to sustain a substantially uniform, predetermined rate of total production, securing the lifts of each pile together as fast as the piles are assembled, to form heel blanks, continuously placing the blanks thus formed at the several assembling points in a4 single unbroken roiv, continuously conveying the said rorvto a single compressing station, continuously delivering the blanks one by one from the forward end of the row to a single compressing means at the saine predetermined rate as said rate of total production, and subjecting the successive blanks to compression uninterruptedly.

3. The method of manufacturing compressed or molded heels, which consists in simultaneously assembling` heel lift-s into piles to form heel blanks a plurality of assembling points at undetermined individual rates of speed, continuously placing the blanks from the several assembling points, as fast as they are produced, in a broken rovv, simultaneously assembling` lifts to form blanks at an,E additional assembling point at a variable, controlled rate which results in a substantially uniform, predetermined total rate of production from all the assembling points, completi. l the broken roiv of blanks by placing in the gaps therein the blanks `produced atsaid additional assembling point, continuously conveyingthesaid row to a single compressing` station, continuously delivering the blanks one by one from the forward end of the row to a single oompressing` means and subjecting the successive blanks to compression uninterruptedly.

4. The combination With a heel compressing machine having a Y vertically moving cross head and a teed slide carried thereby, ot an endless chain carrier operated by vertical movement et the cross head for transferring heels to the feed slide. y

5. The combination with a heel compressing machine having a vertically moving cross head and a feed slide, of Van'endless chain heel carrier supported upon stationfor advancing `the lCarrier step by step to deposit a heel upon `the feed slide at each u vertical movement of the cross head.

6. The combination, with a heel compressing machine having a vertically moving cross head and horizontally moving 'feeding mechanism, of an endless chain mechanical .feeder operated by movement `of the cross head and moving transversely ofsaid feeding mechanism to deliver heels thereto.

In testimony whereof Iliave signed my name to this specification. l

THOMAS LUND. 

